Postharvest handling, opportunities and constraints to honey production in northern Ethiopia

摘要

ThisstudywasconductedtoassesspostharvesthandlingofhoneyandtoidentifyopportunitiesandconstraintsofhoneybeeproductioninSekotadistrict,northernEthiopia.Fromthedistricttwo,threeandfourpeasantassociations(PAs)wererandomlyselectedfromthe33PAs-stratifiedbylocationintohighland,lowlandandmidlandareas,respectively.Overall,90beekeepinghouseholdswereselectedpurposivelytenfromeachPAbasedontheirexperienceinapicultureandparticipationinextensionactivities.ThedatageneratedwasanalyzedusingtheSPSSsoftware.Semi-structuredquestionnairewasusedtocollectthedata.Majorconstraintsforthedevelopmentofapicultureintheareaweredrought,pestsandpredatorsandapplicationofchemicals.Whereastheopportunitiesforthedevelopmentoftheapiculturesub-sectorincludeexperienceandindigenousknowledgebeekeepers,andattentiongivenforthesubsectorbygovernmentalandnon-governmentalorganizationsoperatingintheareaincapacitybuildingforimprovementtheproductionpracticesandhoneyquality.Thelengthofstorageofhoneyrangedfromlessthanamonthtogreaterthantwoyears.Gourd,earthenpot,plasticsandanimalskinswerethemostimportanthoneystoragematerialsusedinthearea.Thus,conservationofnaturalresources,trainingonqueenrearingtechniques,provisionofscientificcontrolmeasuresforthemajorbeeenemiesanddiseasesaswellasprovisionofcreditfacilitiesandinputsareessentialforsustainabledevelopmentoftheapiculturalsectorinthearea.